


AH Superhero AU 2

by QueenCoeurl



Series: AH Superhero AU [2]
Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter/Funhaus RPF
Genre: Gen, Language, Mind Control
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-10-22
Updated: 2015-10-22
Packaged: 2018-05-26 14:07:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6242389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenCoeurl/pseuds/QueenCoeurl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ryan is now imprisoned in the Tower of Pimps for his crimes. He tries to make the best of it, but the Achievement Hunters are far from willing to trust him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	AH Superhero AU 2

It was late when Geoff returned to the Tower of Pimps. He’d forgotten his phone after rushing out to stop a bank robbery. Once it was dealt with he had remembered about his phone.

 The bank robbery had been a routine job with Jack. It hadn’t been a full month since the Mad King’s rampage and the city was barely managing to get itself back on its legs. Order was mostly restored, but many dangerous convicts were still running free. Some had disappeared, but numerous others were actively back in the crime circuit, and this left the Achievement Hunters busy.

 Geoff was thankful for the work. It meant less time at the tower.

 Which meant less time around Ryan.

 Geoff was still a strong advocate of the idea that they should dump him on some deserted chunk of land somewhere, but the decision had come down and _apparently_ people felt safer knowing the Mad King was supervised.

 It had been a decision that had made everyone but the public unhappy. Geoff hated it, and Ryan did not shy away from letting him know how much he hated it as well. Geoff had even gotten him to agree with him on the whole deserted island solution.

 “At least I wouldn’t be as brain meltingly bored fighting for survival as I am locked up in this dank bunker!” Ryan had shouted.

 They hadn’t seen much of him since then. They had been careful to ensure he couldn’t leave the tower, but controlling him within it was impossible. The man had mind control up his sleeve, and for all they knew they could be under his control right now.

 Geoff would occasionally catch Ryan slinking around, and it made him uneasy. Ryan seemed to be actively avoiding them except when he needed something, like groceries. Geoff couldn’t really blame him, they had made him lose control of his own power and were now keeping him captive, but he knew the man was clever and had little doubt he was working on some dangerous scheme.

 He had shared his concerns with Jack, who had agreed that Ryan would attempt something soon, but then had concluded that within the tower, Ryan’s resources were limited. Everything dangerous was under biometric lock and key.

 Not that that would stop someone like Ryan, Jack then added, but it would make it difficult for them not to at least notice.

 Geoff walked down the stairs towards the large common area within the tower. In it was their entertainment center, couches, and a small kitchenette with his alcohol cabinet. Entering the room he noticed the lights and TV were on and stretched out on the couch facing away from Geoff was Ryan.

 Geoff was quiet as he approached, he did know how Ryan would react.

 Ryan looked half asleep. He wore a baggy t-shirt and loose jeans.

 Geoff took a breath, if he was going to find his phone it wasn’t going to be by sneaking around, “Hey, have you seen my phone?”

 Ryan stretched out with a groan, “Does it look like I’ve seen your phone?” he answered curtly.

 “Don’t have to be an asshole about it, your highness.” Geoff snarled the title.

 “Stop calling me that. If you don’t, I’ll make you.” Ryan pushed himself up into a lazy sitting position, he gestured to the TV, “Can’t you see I’m busy?”

 Geoff rolled his eyes, “Busy watching how candles are made?”

 “Look this is the only time I get to myself without you assholes around. Trust me, this is high entertainment compared to you guys.” Ryan argued.

 “Have you seen my phone around or not, shit dick?” Geoff asked once more.

 Ryan reached into his pant pocket and pulled out an iPhone, “This it?” he held it up.

 “Yes it is. Hand it over.” Geoff ordered.

 “What will you give me for it?” Ryan finally turned around to look at Geoff, “You have me locked up in this hell hole; the least you can do is give me some form of access to the outside world.”

 “What?!” Geoff was angered and confused.

 “Give me internet.” Ryan demanded.

 “Like hell, I’ll – and if it’s such a big deal why are you even asking and not just ordering me to do it?” Geoff realized mid-sentence.

 Ryan sighed in irritation, “Because then I have to order all of you to be ok with it and maintain that state of mind. It’s work. We do this legit, and then it’s your ass on the line when people complain and not mine.”

 “And how would they know you weren’t just controlling me? How do _I_ know you aren’t just controlling me?” Geoff argued.

 “I admit that’s a large flaw with my power, but it’s one I’ve never found a workaround for. So if you have any suggestions, I’m open to them.” Ryan sounded tired, “If you want a reformed man, you’re going to have to trust him at some point, aren’t you?”

 “You want to know what the worst part of all this is? Even when you’re not using your mind control, you’re still a manipulative bastard. You’ve dug yourself far too deep a hole.” Geoff countered.

 Ryan exhaled loudly, “Take your damn phone.” He held it out to Geoff.

 Geoff was hesitant to take it and looked at Ryan suspiciously.

 Ryan rolled his eyes so hard he swung his head around with them, “You have a lock on your phone, idiot. Did you ever tell me your password? No? Then I haven’t fucked with it.”

 Geoff snatched his phone out of Ryan’s hand.

 “You’re welcome.” Ryan huffed and lay back down on the couch.

 Geoff look his phone over, it was untampered. He turned to walk away, but paused. Why did he actually feel bad for this man? Was this just another form of manipulation? He had to stand strong; the man was clever, and evil. Geoff had to keep reminding himself of what Ryan had done and the type of person he really was.

 If it wasn’t for Caleb’s healing ability, Geoff would probably be stuck in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. All thanks to Ryan. Yet now that they had defeated him, he appeared so… pathetic.

 He bounced his phone in his hand, “Maybe,” Geoff began, “Maybe I’ll talk to Kdin and see if he’s willing to let you in the lab.”

 Ryan raised an eyebrow, curious.

 “Only under supervision, and we’re installing surveillance.” Geoff amended, before sticking his phone in his pocket and leaving.

 Ryan watched him leave. When he was sure Geoff was gone, he smirked. He had to get them to trust him. This was just another challenge; they thought of him as the enemy, he would change that, and then, then they’d be his. The trick would be doing it without them catching on, and that meant he’d have to avoid using his power unless absolutely necessary. That would be difficult.

Or – he had an idea – they just didn’t have to be aware of him using it. He would put his lab time to use.

~*~

 Kdin approached Geoff in his personal room in the tower. He pulled out his laptop and opened it on Geoff’s desk.

 “You told me to keep track of him as best I could. I still think letting him roam AH Labs was a bad idea, but so far he hasn’t done anything suspicious.” Kdin stated and pulled up his records.

 “It’s been almost two weeks, what has he been up to?” Geoff asked and moved to stand next to Kdin so he could see his screen.

 “Well, aside from asking a lot of questions and constantly saying that what remains of our serum should go in the incinerator, he hasn’t been doing much.” Kdin opened up his document, “I’ve been tracking his internet use to make sure he’s not communicating with people to organize anything. He’s not, well he argues with people occasionally, but he’s spending most of his time just reading and watching videos. He’s a lurker mostly.

 Oh and he purchased new glasses and a bunch of contact lenses.”

 Geoff lifted an eyebrow, “Didn’t we bring him his glasses from his place?”

 Kdin gave a weak laugh, “Yeah he had them on the table and Gavin may have totally dropped a case of beer on them. Depends on who you ask, but the glasses are no more. It’s also why you might have noticed Gavin being pretty much MIA. He doesn’t want to cross paths with Ryan after that.”

 “Oh.” Geoff uttered, “Yeah that makes sense. Anything else I should know?”

 “The software Matt and I developed seems to be working. We’ve had it running for a week now. Basically it’s facial recognition through the security cams you had us set up, but tweaked to specifically watch for when Ryan’s eye goes red. Obviously it’s not perfect since we can’t possibly cover every angle, but it’s caught him using his mind control power three times.” Kdin explained.

 Geoff straightened and looked to Kdin with concern, “On who? Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?!”

 Kdin put up his hands defensively, “No one. He hasn’t been using it on anyone. It seems to be reflexive when he’s frustrated with something since it’s only been directed at inanimate objects. Twice at the computer, once when he broke the microwave.” Kdin then added, “But that doesn’t mean he hasn’t been using verbal commands. We still haven’t figured out a way to track those, and Ryan refuses any sort of brain scan or brain activity monitoring.”

 “I honestly don’t blame him. You scared me saying he’d been using his power. I’m glad he’s been making an effort not to.” Geoff sighed.

 “You realize that the only reason he isn’t is so that he can gain our trust, right? I mean, it’s what I would do, and he’s shown himself to be all about playing those kinds of games. Don’t use your power, gain their trust, and then you can have them act as you please without being suspected.” Kdin argued.

 Geoff exhaled, “I know, Kdin. I know. That’s why I want your surveillance. Do what you need to in order to find a way to track his verbal commands as well. As long as we have objective proof of him controlling someone we can work backwards and figure out what he had them do. Just because we’re stuck with him, doesn’t mean we have to take any of his shit.”

 “He’s also just plain manipulative, which is a problem.” Kdin grumbled.

 “Keep him busy then; the more time he has to himself, the more time he has to plot. Get him involved in your work or something.” Geoff ordered.

 “Like what?! He’s a lawyer!” Kdin protested.

 “I don’t know! Teach him something!” Geoff threw up his hands.

 Kdin huffed and closed his laptop as he stood, “Fine, but I won’t be responsible the quality of his work.”

 “Whatever, I just want him occupied.” Geoff waved him away.

 Kdin grabbed his laptop and left. What the hell was he supposed to give Ryan to do? He’d already refused in helping them figure out how to detect his verbal commands, and would probably be the worst possible test subject for reformulating the serum. Maybe he could convince Ryan to do some of the grunt work; data entry, record keeping, simple experimental observations, but what were the chances he’d agree to it?

 He hurried down the spiraling stairs back to the lab. He’d left Ryan with Matt and Jeremy. He walked in on their conversation.

 “Just because I’m considered a psychic, doesn’t mean I’m in any way capable of telekinesis or seeing the future and shit.” Ryan was replying, “Mind control is all I have.”

 “Yeah, but it’s all in the brain right? It has to be connected somehow.” Matt responded.

 “By that logic you could say sprinting is all in the legs, but that doesn’t make you an Olympian.” Jeremy pointed out, “Or I guess a more accurate example would be one person being amazing at math and another being a great artist.”

 “Well, no. Math and art can be taught. I honestly don’t think telekinesis and the other psychic stuff can. No matter how bad you are at math, if you keep at it you will eventually learn.” Ryan argued.

 Kdin snorted, “Because we need they guy with mind control to be able to move stuff with his thoughts as well.”

 “It’s a hypothetical discussion.” Matt justified, “The only other psychic we have is Lindsay. Ray might count based on some of the dreams he has, but it’s debatable. It’s worth asking questions.”

 “You’re not the only one curious about these things. I mean the government spends how much researching it?” Jeremy asked.

 “A lot.” Ryan answered, “I wouldn’t mind know how my own power works, and why the hell it involves my eye.” He chuckled.

 Kdin sat down at his workstation and plugged his laptop in, “Consider yourself lucky that your punishment didn’t end up you being experimented on in some military lab.”

 Ryan made a noise of uncertainty, “They’d screw up in my containment _eventually_. Might be interesting to have control over a proper army and well, I guess by extension; the country. But then it would just be a political quagmire with the UN and such…” He seemed to mull it over, “Yeah, maybe not.”

 “Wow. Is that an ‘I wouldn’t take over the world because it would be too much work’ excuse? That’s got to be beyond super villainy.” Matt commented.

 “It’s a lot of responsibility.” Ryan protested, “Like why would you even want that? Anyone who does clearly hasn’t thought it through.”

 “Uh huh.” Jeremy wasn’t convinced.

 Ryan changed the subject, “How did the meeting with Geoff go?” He addressed Kdin, “Am I being a good inmate? Will I be refunded for my eyewear?”

 Kdin shook his head, “There’s no early release for good behaviour, and no. No mention of whether or not Geoff is going to make Gavin pay for your glasses.”

 “You’d be best off either accepting the loss, or threatening him until he pays you back.” Matt explained, “Or I guess in your case you could just make him pay you back.”

 “Don’t encourage him.” Jeremy told Matt.

 “I assumed any use of my powers was frowned upon.” Ryan stated.

 Kdin seemed to have an idea, “Well actually…”

 “Oh god, what are you thinking?” Matt crossed his arms.

 “Ryan what if I give you my phone to call Gavin? You use your power to get him here to pay you back, but we record and film you the whole time. See if we can’t figure out a way detect when you give a verbal command, or at least maybe just have some more data on how it works.” Kdin detailed.

 Ryan raised an eyebrow, “Do you even have the authority to permit me to control Gavin? Not to mention, do I really want to help you counter my abilities?”

 “Oh shut up, Ryan. Do you want your money or not?” Kdin snapped.

 Ryan shifted his weight and leaned against a workstation, “I do.”

 “Alright. Sit your ass down over there.” Kdin pointed to a well-lit area, “Matt, get our recording equipment.”

 Ryan reluctantly sat himself down on a wheeled office chair as the other three quickly set up.

 Kdin handed Ryan his phone with Gavin’s number ready to dial.

 Ryan looked at the phone and then looked at them, “If Geoff gets pissed I’m not taking the blame.”

 “I’ll take any blame, and if someone tries to argue that you used your mind control on me, I’ll refer them to the surveillance recording.” Kdin assured him.

 Jeremy turned to Ryan, “Uh, anything we should know before you start? Last time you were on the phone I got slapped by Lindsay.”

 Ryan gave a quiet laugh in remembrance, “No, I’m not going to be using my power on anyone but Gavin. It won’t sound like regular conversation though. Verbal commands can be interpreted fairly loosely unless you are very specific. The whole ‘intent versus interpretation’ thing. The more clever the target the more loopholes and work-arounds they can find. Most people won’t and will just do as they’re told, but it’s always a possibility. If I command Gavin to come down to AH Labs and leave it at that, then he could easily travel to AH Labs three years from now, or more.”

 “Yeah I don’t think you’ll have problems with Gavin.” Matt turned on the camera and adjusted the focus.

 The door to the lab opened and Michael walked in while wiping the side of his head with a towel, “What is going on?” He noticed the setup, “Ryan, I don’t know what they had you agree to, but you should run.”

 “Oh come on.” Jeremy outstretched his arms.

 “Michael, we’re just going to record him using his verbal ability. Go back to the gym.” Kdin explained.

 Michael draped the towel on his shoulder, “His mind control? Who’s the victim?”

  “Gavin.” Matt stated.

 “Oh this I gotta see.” Michael walked further into the lab and seated himself, “What are you getting him to do?”

 “Having him pay me for the pair of glasses he broke.” Ryan informed him.

 “Oh, excellent. He owes me $20. Get him to pay that back too.” Michael said.

 “Really?” Jeremy was unimpressed, “That’s your reaction? Gavin’s your best friend.”

 “Fucker owes me money.” Michael shrugged, nonchalant, “Might as well take advantage of this opportunity.”

“Anyone else have something they need from Gavin? Might as well get it over with all at once.” Ryan gave a quick smirk.

 Michael laughed, “While we’re at it,” He joked.

 Ryan appreciated how Michael still seemed friendly towards him. He wasn’t sure if it was residual mind control but Michael was the only one of the Achievement Hunters that seemed even remotely comfortable around him.

 Michael was well aware that he had been under Ryan’s control, but it hadn’t seemed like it. Either way he couldn’t change how he had felt, but now it left him willing to trust and befriend the man. He wasn’t sure how much was him and how much was Ryan’s influence.

“Just dial him already.” Kdin sighed.

 Ryan did as he was told, and ensured the phone was on speaker so that they were all privy to the conversation.

“‘Ello, Kdin. Need something?” Gavin answered.

 Ryan immediately used his verbal power, “Do not hang up. Do not mute me. Do not remove your phone from your ear.” If Gavin couldn’t hear him, his power wouldn’t work.

“Ryan!” Gavin squealed in fear, “Whatever you’re planning - you can’t - We’ll stop you!” He tried to articulate but his growing panic was choking him.

“Gavin, we’re all in on this, so you can calm down.” Kdin informed him.

“It’s an experiment.” Michael added.

“Well now that you’ve told him that, it won’t exactly be a challenge will it?” Ryan looked disappointed, “Shouldn’t you have some policy about not interfering with an experiment?”

“Just do it.” Kdin ordered.

“Wot?! Do what?!” Gavin squawked.

“What are you currently doing and where are you?” Ryan simply asked. Now that Gavin felt significantly less threatened he wouldn’t have to use his power nearly as much.

“Nothing, I’m just at home, why?” Gavin replied.

“What are you wearing?” Michael joked.

 That had everyone but Kdin laugh, who instead scowled.

“Ok guys just let Ryan talk alright? Our data is going to be shit otherwise.” Kdin told them.

“Safely stop whatever you’re doing and immediately come to AH Labs to pay me back for the glasses you broke, in cash, and also pay Michael the $20 you owe him. You will travel without distraction or delay.” Ryan ordered Gavin.

 They could hear movement on Gavin’s side of the line, “I don’t owe Michael any money!” He argued.

Everyone looked to Michael.

 Michael shrugged, “It was worth a shot.”

“If I change how I word it he will give you the twenty.” Ryan quietly told Michael.

“No!” Gavin shouted, “You cannot just have me giving my money away! Kdin, honestly, what the bloody hell?!”

 Kdin couldn’t help but smile, but shook his head, “Ok guys, that’s enough. Ryan, just finish up and don’t have him do anything else.”

“That’s all I needed to tell him to do, unless you want to specify he travels here on unicycle.” Ryan shrugged.

 "I don’t even know how to ride one; how would that work?“ Gavin was flustered.

"How would something like that work?” Matt was genuinely curious.

 Ryan laughed, “Well he’d still attempt it, and maybe by the end he’d actually learn how.”

“But what if it’s something impossible?” Jeremy inquired, “What then?”

“Like if I asked him to teleport?” Ryan asked.

 There were nods.

“Oh he’d still try it.” Ryan chuckled, “But my verbal commands aren’t as powerful as my main ability so he’d give up and use the next best option.”

“Can I hang up yet?” Gavin interrupted.

“So if you used your main power, with your eye, what would happen then?” Kdin was now curious as well.

“Depends on how I go about it. I could make him believe himself capable of teleportation, and he’d be either convinced he did teleport or confused and frustrated as to why he hadn’t. Or if I insist on teleportation without convincing him he can, depending on his personality and intelligence - well he either figures it out or carries an obsession with figuring it out to the grave. I can only bend the human will, not reality.” Ryan confessed.

“CAN I HANG UP NOW?!” Gavin bellowed.

 “Yes Gavin, you can hang up.” Ryan stated offhandedly.

 The line went dead.

 “How far away does he live? Will it take him long to get here?” Ryan asked the room.

 Michael shrugged, “Twenty minutes to half hour at most.” He felt that Ryan shouldn’t know exactly where Gavin lived.

 “What if you ordered someone to be somewhere by a certain time, and it was physically impossible for them to do so?” Jeremy was still on that train of thought.

 “Then they’d fail.” Ryan said and then added, “So unless I specify a specific way to react to that failure, they’ll react in whatever way they normally react. Like I said, I can’t bend reality.”

 “You could argue that reality is subjective, and if you can manipulate people into believing something, then you are bending their reality.” Kdin mused, “Can you make people perceive things?”

 “I can make them believe they are seeing something, but as for whether that means they actually do, I wouldn’t know since I can’t read minds. I could make Gavin believe Michael to be Geoff, but whether he then would actually see Geoff in place of Michael, who knows? Or would he simply believe Geoff’s appearance has changed, or would his mind construct a scenario to explain such a thing, I honestly don’t know. I would literally have to do it and then ask him.” Ryan elaborated.

 “Just going to go ahead and say this now: You’re not allowed to do that or any variation of that, ever.” Michael told Ryan.

 Ryan smiled deviously, “There’s a man in an institution somewhere in Georgia who believes himself to be a cow. Am I to assume that that isn’t allowed either?”

 “Oh my god, no. Refrain from using your abilities in anyway. Please.” Kdin shook his head violently, and then warned, “And remember, you’re under close surveillance, so don’t think you could get away with it either.”

 “Don’t make it a challenge, or he will actually find a way around your surveillance. That’s how he is.” Michael warned Kdin.

 Ryan chuckled, and wanted to respond “Who’s to say I haven’t already?” but figured it wouldn’t be a good idea to sow those seeds of fear. If he was to survive his sentence here without losing his mind, he would need their trust and cooperation. Without having them second guessing their thoughts and opinions of him.

 Instead, Ryan responded, “Don’t worry about it. I don’t know how long I’m stuck in here with all of you, and I’d rather have this be a non-violent experience. I know you all could seriously fuck me up before I’d have any chance of stopping you.”

 “Let’s keep it that way.” Jeremey was clearly still suspicious.

 Kdin grabbed the camera and started putting it away. He decided to aggressively change the topic, “Ryan, do you have any skills outside of being a lawyer? Because you aren’t going to be doing much of that anymore, and we could use help in the lab.”

 Ryan looked around the lab and his gaze lingered on where the serum was stored, “If your serum is any gauge of your quality of work, then yes, you do need help.”

 “You are not gonna let that go are you?” Matt commented.

 “Dude, would you?!” Ryan snapped, “How about I jam some in your neck and see what happens?”

 “Do you have any useful skills or not?!” Kdin asked with force.

 Ryan shrugged, “Depends what’s needed. I’m pretty technical and good at making things. The whole lawyer thing is just the most recent thing I’ve done. I get bored and then move on to something else.”

 “Are we talking wood and nails, or solder and circuits?” Kdin inquired.

 “The second one.” Ryan clarified, “You don’t want me trying to build you a chair or table.”

 Kdin looked pleasantly surprised, “That’s actually really convenient. I wanted to put your time in the lab to use, and if you actually know how to do what we need, it just makes my life that much easier.”

 Michael frowned, “I don’t know about anyone else, but I’d feel more comfortable not having Ryan working on my equipment. It just feels like a bad idea.”

 Matt and Jeremy agreed.

 “What advantage is it to me to have you dead?” Ryan said before Kdin could speak.

 “He wouldn’t work on anything vital.” Kdin justified his plan.

 “Why wouldn’t it be advantageous to kill us off?” Jeremy asked Ryan, “Especially if it’s in the field and therefore difficult to trace back to you.”

 “A variety of reasons, but before I go into detail, do you honestly think any of you would be alive if my intent was to kill you?” Ryan laughed in disbelief, “With my power it’s far easier to have you kill yourselves than depend on some equipment failure that may or may not happen at a potentially dangerous time.”

 “Yeah, but you’re all about head games, aren’t you?” Matt interjected.

 “I’ll admit they’re fun, but do you think Geoff is an idiot? He wouldn’t have had me locked in with all of you if he didn’t think I was at least somewhat rational. Yeah, it was a gamble with your lives on his part, but look at my options; I’m trapped here. I literally depend on you for resources. If I knew how long I was in here for I could ration food and kill you all off, but let’s just say I don’t fancy the idea of being trapped in here without food and surrounded by rotting corpses.”

 There was a stunned and uncomfortable silence.

 Ryan looked at their expressions, “What? Did you honestly not know that’s what Geoff was betting on? That I wasn’t irrationally vengeful or crazy?”

 “I think I’m going to have to bring that up in the next team meeting.” Jeremy stated.

 “I thought it was obvious with how many measures were put in place to ensure I would never know my release date.” Ryan muttered, “Sorry to be the one to tell you.”

 “Hey!” Came a shout from the door to the lab.

 All the heads in the room snapped towards the doorway.

 There Gavin stood looking intensely irritated. He was still holding his phone to his ear as if it had been glued there.

 “Gavin?” Michael was concerned.

 “Why can’t I put my phone away?!”  Gavin shouted, “I would have called but I bloody well can’t with my phone screen to my head, can I?!”

 Everyone looked to Ryan, who seemed to have a moment of realization, “Ooooh, right. You hung up before I could tell you it was okay to take your phone away from your ear. You can remove your phone from your ear.”

 Gavin did so with a sigh of relief and shook his arm out.

 “You didn’t drive here like that, did you?” Ryan asked.

 “He doesn’t drive.” Michael informed him.

 Gavin stomped over to Ryan and pulled out some bills and threw them at him.

 Ryan looked down at the money, “What is that? Like fifty dollars?”

 Gavin was staring at Ryan angrily.

 “Do you have any concept of how expensive prescription lenses are?” Ryan sighed, “I guess it’s my fault for not specifying the amount.”

 “Don’t ever bloody do that again!” Gavin threatened and then turned to his friends, “And don’t any of you ever tell him to!” He stormed out of the room.

 Ryan picked up the money and shook his head, “He’s lucky I have the money to replace the pair he broke, or we’d be talking again.”

 Michael shrugged, “To be fair, I’d be pissed too.”

 “No harm, no foul.” Matt stated, “I’m sure the data is well worth it.”

~*~

 “Hey, Ryan.” Jack called from the main stairway into the bunker.

 Ryan looked up from a book he was reading while seated on the couch. It was a generic fantasy novel he had grabbed from their small library.

 Jack walked over and held out a box, “I was leaving and decided to check our post box. Looks like your eyewear has finally come in. You won’t have to struggle with those generic strength ones anymore.”

 “Excellent.” Ryan took the box and sat back down.

 “Enjoy. I’m off for the night. Oh and Kdin wanted me to remind you about checking on some simulation or something tonight, since you’re going to be the only one here.” Jack told him.

 Ryan nodded, “Yeah, I remember. Thanks”

 Jack nodded in farewell and left Ryan to hold down the bunker for the night.

 Ryan was happy he was alone.  He put the box on his lap and got close to the lamp that he was using for illumination. The overhead fluorescents were far too harsh to have on at this time of night.

 He peeled off the tape and opened the package.  

 In a darkened corner of the room the fridge clicked as its compressor turned on.

 Ryan smiled as he pulled out two new pairs of glasses and eight boxes of contact lenses. Each box was a different variety of several brands. He searched through them to find the one he wanted.

 Ryan’s smile widened. He had been correct in guessing that if he ordered many varieties then the one he really wanted would be overlooked when they scanned his browser history.

 He pulled the box out.

 “ _Coloured lenses: Bright Blue. Get the perfect shade of blue eyes regardless of your natural hue!”_ The box boasted. If it worked on brown, it would work on red.

 He saw movement out of the corner of his eye and looked towards it.

 A hand made of shadow made its way across the floor. The arm extended bending unnaturally and came from the darkest corner of the room. It snaked its way up the base of the lamp.

 With a click the lamp was turned off.

 Ryan sat still and felt someone seat themselves next to him on the couch. He recognized that shadow manipulating ability and knew exactly who it belonged to.

 “Hello Jon.” Ryan greeted. 


End file.
